Aging 101

As a culture, we have adopted a sort of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy about sexuality, which, of course, stifles dialogues about sexual health for almost everyone at any age. To complicate matters, we also place a high social premium on youthfulness. So naturally, conversations about sex and aging represent the paragon of taboo in this country.

Plenty of people accept the status quo of long-term care as it is. They are willing to change the industry’s surface features but want to retain its most basic assumptions. There is one very big problem with that point of view. The foundation of contemporary long-term care is based on immoral and deeply flawed assumptions.Secondary […]

Another year, another ailment. And nobody ever tells you to expect them.

So there was Crabby Old Lady last Thursday afternoon sitting in the place she can most frequently be found – in front of the computer. She doesn’t recall what she was doing when, with no warning, there were a bunch of black strings and spots in front of one eye.

She blinked. She blinked some more. The strings and spots remained swirling here and there as Crabby glanced from side to side.

Read Part 1 of Abolishing the Old Age Asylum here. Read Abolishing The Old Age Asylum, Part 2: Bulldozer Therapy here. I worry about the Culture Change movement in long-term care. This is a movement I’ve fought for and supported for decades. It’s a vibrant coalition of people and organizations that has brought humanity and […]

Without much fanfare, the Senate Special Committee on Aging released a report earlier this month on the subject of how the U.S. is progressing in caring for older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The committee compared health-care infrastructure with that of Japan, Australia, France and the United Kingdom – countries chosen because they have demographics and economies similar to ours.

The report found that these countries were all ahead of us on the Alzheimer’s care front. But as Judith Graham points out in a sharply observed piece today on the New Old Age blog, the study also unearthed statistics that suggest that long-term care for America’s elderly in general is lagging behind the rest of the world’s standards.

In the little space between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Jude and I are putting together a fun new project. We are calling it First Fest and it is the first edition of what we hope will become an annual Ithaca tradition. The idea is to create an evening of music, art, theater, dance and […]

Last week, the first of three multi-day events took place in Nashville, TN, focusing on the reduction of anti-psychotic drugs (see Chris Perna’s recent post for the details). This collaboration between The Eden Alternative and the Tennessee Department of Health, Division of Health Care Facilities has the potential to make an important impact in Tennessee, […]

One of the things that keeps me working in the aging services field is the camaraderie of my colleagues. They demonstrate a tremendous commitment to and appreciation for Elders and their care partners, an awareness of the Elders’ stories as sacred treasures to be held by us with care, and an intuition that the health […]

I heard an excellent quote from radio host Dave Ramsey that said, “In an effort to be ‘nice’ I used to be unclear. It is unkind to be unclear: Be a gentle truth teller.” While I don’t always succeed at the “gentle” part, I am relatively straightforward most of the time with my opinions.

Set amid the gentle hills and farmlands of central Tennessee, sprawling Nashville attracts millions of visitors each year. The majority come to immerse themselves in music, whether at mainstream showcases like the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry, or in the smaller clubs and honky-tonks found not only downtown but also […]

With the election behind him, Barack Obama’s first item of business will be dealing with the fiscal cliff–that toxic combination of tax increases and automatic spending cuts that are due to kick in on Jan 2, unless Congress acts to delay or replace them with a long-term deficit reduction plan. Going over the cliff would mean deep cuts in a […]

I’m working on my next book, The Second Crucible, and imagining what it would be like in the immediate future if those who deny aging become the dominant cultural force in our society.

You know who I’m talking about. These are the people who believe that they will never get old. They believe the first person to live to be 1,000 years old is alive today. They believe that aging is a disease, a horrible blight on humanity, and that all we need to do to cure it once and for all is flex our technological prowess.

On September 26, 2012, culture change advocates from around the world gathered in Reykjavik, Iceland to listen to presentations about The Eden Alternative. They shared the challenges they face in bringing culture change to long-term care settings and amazing success stories. Dr. Thomas and his wife, Jude, joined the conference along with 170 other individuals. […]